The great crisis, or at least that's what I called it. From the time when I first made it back to the village to the fourth great ninja war, that was the best way to describe it. To think that it was my fault it happened. If I'd only brought Sasuke back earlier this'd never have happened. I wouldn't have lost so many of my…

I guess ending all the fighting was all this kekkegenkai was good for. Because of it I gained two new allies and regained an old comrade. Too bad I didn't know what it was until it was too late. All the new comrades in the world couldn't replace them.

"Can you see me? Can you see Hinata, Sakura, kiba, Fuzzy-Brows, and Neji. I've done it. I've finally lived my dream; I'm The Hokage, The youngest ever at that. But now I have to do something that everyone fears… even as the Hokage." Naruto slowly walked out to the charred ruins of his village, meeting his end.

Naruto shot up out of his bed with a scream. It has been three years since he had joined the soul society and only today he was finishing the academy.

"There it is again. Why can't I just forget? I guess I'm just nervous that's all" Naruto has had the same dream for the last week of the academy and he knew it from when he died. The recollection of the experience was vague but the dream was all too vivid.

"Maybe a shower will clear my head."

After getting out the shower Naruto put on the usual shinigami attire and ran out the door for when he graduated and his Zanpakuto was born.

At the academy Naruto sat at the front of the class so he could hear his sensei clearly and accurately. The teacher was an average sized man with a ponytail pointing towards the sky. He had a scar above his nose and a wrap around his left eye. He rarely wore a shirt showcasing his multiple scars obviously obtained through battle. When Naruto first met him he was astonished at how much he looked like Iruka sensei, but he knew that couldn't be him. Naruto saw him die, and when was when devoured by a hollow. Being unable to protect someone precious to him twice almost drove him insane. Training was the only thing keeping his sanity from being a distant memory, which did nothing but help his studies.

"Today is a pinnacle moment in your shinigami lives. Your Zanpakuto are your partners until you fall in battle. Depending weather you can connect with it you can unlock amazing power. NOW RELEASE THE PART OF YOUR SPIRITS SEPERATING YOU FROM YOUR BIRTH RIGHT!" As if on cue everyone in the room's hands started to glow a blinding white… except for Naruto's. His hand was a wicked red with a black tint.

"What the heck is going.." Before Naruto could finish his question all the glows dimmed revealing an individual Zanpakuto for each student, each one different than the last. Naruto's was a simple katana with a red hilt with intricate designs on it that reminded him of a certain someone he'd like to forget. At the base there was a red halve of a yin yang sign. Interrupting Naruto's inspection of his new "companion" The sensei spoke

"You have you're swords but weather you can or can't communicate with it is up to you. Your ability to do so; or lack there of, will determine your squad as well as your seat. There will be an ability evaluation in one week, you have that much time to learn your zanpakuto's name, abilities, as well as devise a fighting style. After seeing how well you fight with your new ally you will be put into the squad we deem appropriate. DISMISSED!"

Naruto walked home to his room where he contemplated how he would communicate with his Zanpakuto. Slowly but surely he fell asleep thinking of ideas.

There was screaming everywhere. Flames engulfed houses and people in the way. Naruto's ceremony was cut short by devastating means. He watched the assailant kill the friends he had left one by one, the blood of his loved ones stain his beloved village's ground. He watched the pain and fear in each of their eyes and didn't act to do anything until it was too late. He ran up to the assailant and as he came into view the world stopped.

Do you want to stop this from happening?

"I can't I was, I am too week"

Do you want to have the power to keep things like this from happening again?

"Yes I will never be forced to watch my cherished ones die again."

Then call my name it's…

Naruto shot up sweating gripping his Zanpakuto. He looked at the time it was noon. He got up, took a shower and got dressed. That dream startled him. It was different than the reoccurring dream he was plagued with the last week He was ready to try to communicate with his sword when he heard a knock at the door.

"Hey Naru-kun" He knew that voice all too well; she was a very close friend when he joined the academy. She helped him with many things including basic sword techniques.

"Do you think he's in there?"

"Of course the training grounds haven't been charred so of course he didn't leave yet."

Those two voices were just as soothing to hear. They were two of his favorite training partners. He ran to the door and opened it eagerly, and there stood three of his best friends in all of soul society, Momo Hinamori, Kira Izuru, and Hisagi Shuhei. Naruto was suddenly greeted by a three person glomp.

"Naruto you've finally graduated" Momo blurted out

"Is that your Zanpakuto" asked Shuhei

"Did you learn its name" Asked Kira

"Forget that have you learned any new kido" Asked Momo

"How about sword skills any new sword techniques" Shuhei continued

"What is your sword's ability" Kira asked

"ANSWER US" the three said in unison

Not only was Naruto's body aching from the three person tackle but now his head was spinning from all of the questions and they just continued to come. Naruto could only think of one thing to say. Before he could stop himself it was already said.

"Get off me and let me show you" If Naruto was in his right state of mind he would never have said anything close to that, but he was panicked and excited about leaving the academy. He knew there was no way he could even begin to stand up against a third seat let alone three lieutenants. But what worried him the most wasn't that he'd get the floor wiped with his face; it was that there was no going back.

The four walked to their destination at an alarmingly slow rate, mostly because naruto was dragging his feet. When ever he'd glance over he'd see either Shuhei or Kira eyeing him like hungry lions. The only thing keeping him from breaking down and crying then and there was that Momo didn't seem too happy about charring his face off.

"I can't wait to see how good you've gotten in kido Naru-kun"

"Um, yeah.. about that"

"Here we are" Hisagi and Kira said in unison. They were just outside of rukongai at a field that provided good cover as well as room enough for acrobatics. The field was mostly made up of large boulders on the ground and sand. But far off at the end of the field there was a large patch of grass. There were three trees there as well. When Naruto notices them he couldn't help but remember when team 7 first trained together, and then the dream.

He quickly shook the thought from his head and realized that Momo was explaining something that seemed important.

"...Hollow so try not to do that. Well that's about it are you ready" Momo finished just as Naruto realized he should have been listening. He knew how much she hated being ignored so he didn't dare ask her to repeat what she said.

"Of course I'm ready; I'm just hoping you three don't get hurt too bad. So who's getting' beat down first?" naruto knew he was in for the biggest beat down of his life but he was already in too deep so he would make it a pretty good learning experience.

"I'll go first ok Naru-kun" Momo said

"Um.. ok." Naruto reluctantly took his battle stance, drawing his sword while shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Naruto didn't want to wait for the call to start, he immediately ran at Momo with his sword brandished.
"Whoa Naru-kun" Momo yelled causing naruto to come to a screeching halt. "You know im not really that good with sword combat so let's only use kido in our fight, ok?"

Naruto didn't see the harm in it, although he didn't have much talent for jutsue when he was alive he was pretty good at kido in every field. "Sure that'll be fun" For a split second Naruto felt like he could win until reality hit him like a huge blue flame.

"Hado 33 sokatsui!" And with one simple incantationless spell Naruto's hopes of success were burned to a crisp.